Time's Arrow
by Tweetie Pie
Summary: Who or what was the first Harceisis? Why is it that Horus has two histories in Earth mythology? Why didn't Teal'c know that Horus was the son of Isis and Osiris? FINISHED! My first FanFic, please R
1. Blast from the Past

Time's Arrow

Chapter 1: Blast from the Past.

Daniel lifted his head, disturbed by the chiming of his doorbell. He glared at the shadow seen through the glass, then glanced at his watch. 06:30. Damn! It must be Sam, come to pick him up! He ran his spare hand through tousled hair as he moved to the door. With his toothbrush held ominously he opened the door and grimaced at the slim, blonde Major who was pressing the button insistently. until she caught sight of the young archaeologist, clad only in his fatigue pants and a small hand towel over one shoulder. She covered her mouth and her giggles as Daniel threatened her with his foaming toothbrush.

His look changed quickly from frustrated to hurt because of her laughter and then annoyed in the space of a second. "You're early." He turned on his heel and headed back down the hall to finish getting dressed. It didn't matter that he'd been working with the SGC for nearly six years, he still couldn't get used to the idea of getting up before the sun. Only in the military!

Sam's laughter slowly ebbed as she entered and closed the door behind her. "You want a cup of coffee, Daniel?" The ghost of her laughter made her voice light and almost buoyant.

"Yeah. Thanks." Daniel paused long enough in his tooth brushing to direct her where to find the mugs, then continued with his morning preparations.

Sam made the coffee, humming softly as she moved about the small kitchen, and she spotted a magazine that had obviously distracted Daniel in those all-too-rare moments at home. She sipped her coffee and picked it up, reading about a small dig at Giza. Turning the magazine over to read the cover, she couldn't contain her smile as "Archaeology Today" shone back at her.

"So. Uh, Sam?" Daniel picked up his mug and curled his fingers around it, as if it held the most precious liquid in the world - which, considering how early it was, probably wasn't far from the truth!

Daniel's entrance pulled Sam's attention away from the magazine. "Hmmm?" she muttered through a mouthful of coffee.

"Well, I was wondering why you were here half an hour early. Care to tell me?"

"Oh!" She put aside her coffee and grinned slightly. "Well, the Colonel thought that we might like to have breakfast together at the commissary."

"Hmmm." He finished his drink quickly. "Another one of Jack's impromptu debriefings? Why not?"

They grinned together and headed for the door as Daniel set the two empty mugs in the sink. Pausing at his mailbox, Daniel reached inside and retrieved the letters inside. Throwing them in the back with his tattered briefcase, he sat next to Sam. She carefully reversed out of the drive and headed off to the SGC.

-----

".So I told him that he ought to send us on more exciting missions and he got grouchy again." Jack's comment caused Sam's laughter which echoed through the commissary and drew a few glances in their direction.

Daniel smiled briefly at Jack's remark. It had been a boring debriefing yesterday and Daniel was hoping to be able to get back to his research. With this in mind, he reached for his mail, while chewing on a piece of toast. Some of the translations from the latest Assyrian-like language should be in today.

"What is it, Daniel? You seem distracted this morning." Jack's voice was lowered as he asked this question.

"Nah, just not awake yet."

"Not awake! How can you still be tired? You've already drunk three double-strength Expresso's!"

Sam chuckled. "And a cup that I made him when I picked him up this morning!"

Daniel yawned. "C'mon, guys. Y'know that it takes me much more than that to be awake at this ungodly hour!" Sam and Jack laughed and Teal'c smiled, while Daniel blushed.

Daniel noticed the postmark on one of his letters was from Greece. He filed that one on the top of his pile and realised that the letter he was waiting for hadn't arrived yet. He looked up at the others, then grinned boyishly. "I think I'm going to go get another coffee, guys. then I've got to get on with the work on the stuff we brought back from P6Y295."

"Yeah, I guess I should get on with my work, too," Sam replied. "I've been testing out some new calibrations on the Naquadah reactor and need to know if we can increase the power output on it. If we can, my hypothesis is that we'll at least double the." Sam was stopped mid-sentence by Jack's raised hand.

"Carter, please. I've just finished breakfast! We don't need to hear all the gory details. Can't you save the techno-babble for those who understand it?"

Sam grinned at her non-technical CO and nodded. "Sorry, sir. If you gentlemen will excuse me, I think I'll go and start those tests."

"DanielJackson, if you have no need of me..?"

Daniel glanced at Teal'c. "No, I won't need you this morning, Teal'c. I'm working on those finds that we had on P6Y295, not the Goua'uld stuff."

"Good. I will spend the morning immersed in Kel'no'reem."

Daniel nodded as Jack stood up, too. "I need to finish that report. Daniel, see ya at lunch?" Picking up his mail and notes Daniel nodded to Jack.

"Yeah. See you then, Jack." The younger man smiled at his team leader who whistled as he strode from the room.

-----

Daniel sipped his coffee as he perched on a seat in his office. He gazed at some of the new artefacts brought back by SG-4, then remembered his mail. Reaching for the bundle, he tried to think who might have sent the message from Greece.

The typed name and address gave no clue as to whom it might have been. The post-mark was 'Santorini'. He thought for a moment. "I don't know anyone in Santorini, do I?" He set down his coffee and reached for the paper knife. Carefully slicing open one of the long-edges of the envelope, he pulled out the small bundle of papers. One was folded neatly, but obviously bigger than standard letter size. He set that aside and scanned the letter that had been enclosed. Skipping straight to the end, a gasp of delight emerged from his lips. "Jeanie? Wow! It's been a long time! Let's see what you've got to say." He straightened up, reaching for his coffee again, reading in silence. He blinked once, then frowned as he set aside the letter and picked up the larger page. Carefully opening it, he licked his lips as Egyptian Hieroglyphics came into view. Intrigued, he set aside his coffee again and pulled a lamp closer. He reached for a magnifying glass to be sure of what he had seen on the page.

Daniel's eyes widened in surprise as the words "Oh, Boy!" escaped his lips. Pausing for only a moment, he reached for the phone. "General Hammond? It's Dr Jackson here. I think we have a problem. I need to have an emergency meeting with you and the rest of SG-1 right now. Yes, I'm sure it's urgent. Please, can you arrange it? I'll be right there. I just need to make a few. OK, thanks." He put the phone down and grabbed the papers, rushing to the copy-room.

-----

The overhead projector illuminated a large photo of the page over which Daniel had become excited. He looked down the table at General Hammond and the rest of SG-1, then cleared his throat.

"What you're seeing here is, ahhh. what could best be described as a translation stone. You guys ever heard of the Rosetta Stone?" Silent nods answered him. "If you've heard of it, then you must know that it was the most significant archaeological find ever. Well, with the exception of the StarGate!" More nods, but this time he was interrupted by Teal'c.

"DanielJackson, I was most impressed by this artefact. It was the first item I had seen, other than Goa'uld devices, that contained the writings of the Gods."

"Exactly right, Teal'c! And that's what this is! This." here he gestured at the projection behind him, ".is a tablet that was found in a very large dig on an island named Santorini. What you are seeing is, in fact, Egyptian hieroglyphs and two other ancient languages, Linear A and Linear B."

"And?" Jack's bored voice stopped Daniel dead. "I've never heard of them, Daniel. What are they?"

Daniel sighed. It was going to be one of those briefings. "Linear A and Linear B were both thought to be Minoan languages. They were originally found on Crete. Ahhh. Let's see. " He scratched at the bridge of his nose. "OK, in 1900 an archaeologist named Sir Arthur Evans had been digging at Knossos on Crete, looking for the palace of King Minos." Four blank faces stared back at him. He elaborated; "Remember the Minotaur?"

As realisation dawned on their faces, Daniel continued. "Anyway. He discovered some tablets that contained two distinct languages. For want of better names, he called them Linear A and Linear B. You can see here this was probably because most of the characters consist of vertical lines. Now, there was also a Greek hieroglyphic script that was discovered at the same time, but seems to have been used mostly for seal-stones, and isn't important compared to what I found."

Daniel paced impatiently as he related the story. "Linear B seems to have been very widely used, as some of it was also found in 1939 on the Greek mainland at a city called Pylos. There's some linguists who believe that Linear B was created from Linear A." He paused, muttering "but I swear, I've been studying these two languages for most of my adult life and have yet to see any similarities."

General Hammond interrupted Daniel's rambling. "Dr Jackson, we have yet to see why this photograph is so important." The General crossed his arms in front of him, waiting for the young civilian to continue.

"Yes, sorry. Well, Linear B was deciphered in 1953, twelve years after Sir Arthur Evans died. Things changed from that point on. It soon became apparent that the Greek civilisation was every bit as rich and long-lived as the Egyptian civilisation! But, so far, Linear A has never been deciphered!" Here Daniel paused in his pacing and moved back to the projection. "Until now."

"Look at this. The stone found at the Akrotiri dig on Santorini is divided into three sections. The top one we all know, it's Egyptian. The middle one is Linear A and the bottom one is Linear B. This stone appears to be a Minoan equivalent to the Rosetta stone. We now know how to translate Linear A!"

"Oh, for." Jack bit off the rest of his comment and glanced guiltily at the others, then back at Daniel. "Don't tell me that you stopped us from doing our work, for this?"

"No, Jack, that's just part of it." Daniel's eyes lit up with excitement as he continued to explain. "Now, Egyptians always put proper nouns within a cartouche." Daniel traced an oval on the Egyptian section of the projection, then he turned and replaced the first photograph with a larger view of the Egyptian hieroglyphs showing two columns, each containing a cartouche and nothing else. "OK, this is what I wanted to see you all about. Look at this. Each line has two names. But what's interesting is what the names are."

"Daniel, don't keep us in suspense." Jack growled, getting frustrated and a little bored by Daniel's insistence that this was exciting. However, General Hammond, Sam and Teal'c all sat up staring more closely at the screen.

"Sorry, Jack, bear with me a moment. OK, in the first column are names of gods and goddesses. The next column contains the names of the places that they were famous for protecting." He looked down the table at the blank stares he was getting, then sighed impatiently. "Put it this way, the ones on the left are Goa'uld system lords and the ones next to them can only be the names of their home systems!"

Gasps filled the air as they started to understand why Daniel had called this an emergency. "Now you see why I needed you to see this. Look." He pointed to one group of hieroglyphs. "This is the symbol for Ra. This one is the symbol for Apophis and this one is the symbol for the goddess Nephthys. What we're looking at is a directory of System Lords and their home systems."

Daniel reached over and pulled the photograph slightly left, revealing more cartouches beside the ones that he was already showing. These contained six symbols that everyone in the room recognised instantly. "And these are the StarGate addresses."

Stunned silence hit the room, until Jack piped up. "So this is like a galactic phone book?"

Daniel nodded. "Exactly. It's similar to the map-room I found on Abydos, only a lot smaller. Unfortunately, you can't see the best one. I was in such a hurry." He strode to the blackboard and drew a cartouche. Turning to look at Teal'c he asked, "Do you recognise this System Lord, Teal'c?"

"Indeed, DanielJackson. However, that is only half of his name. It is Heru'ur, is it not?"

"Umm. Close enough. It translates to the name Har or Her; we know the god as Horus, or Heru'ur. But this is the bit that I wanted you all to see. This was his StarGate address." Reaching up, he drew two sides of a triangle, the tip pointing up; he paused, then drew a solid circle above the triangle. If the earlier silence had been tense, this was even more strained.

Jack roused himself enough to form the question that was on everyone's mind "But isn't that.?"

"The symbol for Earth." Daniel finished the thought for him. "Yes."

TBC 


	2. History Revisited

TIMES ARROW

Chapter 2: History Revisited

"But surely that's not possible!" exclaimed Sam. "Every StarGate address requires at least six reference points and a point of origin."

"That's true," Daniel replied. "However, that assumes that you actually need to USE the Gate. What if this directory belonged to someone on Earth? The reference to their own address would be their point of origin. Maybe Horus was based here on Earth."

"I believe that your assumption is incorrect, DanielJackson," the deep rumble of Teal'c's voice filled the briefing room. "Goa'uld history indicates that only Ra ruled the world of the Tau'ri, and he was more cautious than most when dealing with others of his kind. Ra left after the rebellion, leaving four other Goa'uld behind. Hathor and Seth were stranded on purpose, but Isis and Osiris were thought to be dead. That was the last contact that any of the system lords had with the people of this planet, until the StarGate was reactivated."

Daniel pondered this for a moment. "Uh. well, there's only one way to find out if I'm right." Turning to General Hammond, he continued "General, I think I should go to Akrotiri to investigate this further."

All eyes turned to the head of the table. "Agreed. However, I'm also sending the rest of SG-1 with you. Our primary concern here is to prevent this information becoming more public than it already has. Dr. Jackson, do you have any idea of who else has been informed of this discovery?"

"In her letter Jeanie said that she hasn't mentioned this to anyone else, not even the Greek government. She only wrote to me because I was the best translator of Egyptian hieroglyphics that she knew." Daniel paused for a moment, then continued, "She doesn't want to lose control of the situation, General. If she approached the Greek government with this, they would probably take it away from her and hand it over to someone they considered more capable. She trusts me. She knows that I won't steal her discovery. Considering how important a find this is, she's doing what I would have done. She's being careful."

Hearing this, Jack leaned forward clasping his hands together with a serious look on his face. "You DO realise that we are going to have to take this away from her anyway, don't you?"

A pained look crossed Daniel's features as he replied "Yes. I know that. However, I also know that, while it can't be made public at the moment, Jeanie will get full credit for the discovery. And it would be better coming from me, someone she knows, as opposed to some faceless bureaucrat."

"General," Sam queried, "how should we handle this? The U.S. military doesn't exactly have any jurisdiction in Greece."

"That's a good point, Major," said the General, thoughtfully. "This should be kept as low key as possible." He glanced up at the rest of SG-1. "Any suggestions?"

Almost before General Hammond had finished his question, Daniel raised the index finger of his right hand and blurted "Jeanie has actually supplied us with just the excuse we need. She invited me to come and help translate the tablet. I can travel there to do precisely that! The rest of SG-1 could travel as my associates. Teal'c could help me translate the tablet and anything else we might find. As a doctor, Sam can pass herself off as a knowledgeable amateur archaeologist." He paused to look at Jack, then continued, "And I'm sure Jack will be useful, too."

Rolling his eyes, Jack groaned softly, "Just peachy."

"OK, people," the General concluded, "let's get to it."

-----

The rumble of the aircraft engines did nothing to soothe Daniel to sleep. Fidgeting in his chair, he remembered the last time he was with Jeanie as if it was yesterday. It was in 1986, near Giza. They had just uncovered the tomb of an advisor to a minor Pharaoh when Jeanie had received an invitation to join the ongoing excavations at Akrotiri, on the island of Santorini. Jeanie had always preferred Greek archaeology to Egyptian archaeology. She never forgave him for staying behind in Egypt, effectively ending their post-graduate relationship.

Daniel thought about the events in the years that had followed. He felt more than a small measure of satisfaction that he had taken on the burden of his parent's quest and succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. He glanced down at Jeanie's letter in his hand and wondered if fate had been as kind to her as it had to him. Having graduated together, Daniel was slightly envious that Jeanie had landed the position of site manager at such a young age. Well, at least she could publish her findings.

Putting the letter aside, he continued to read his other documents about the Akrotiri dig. They were easy to come by, but focused mostly on the snapshot of Akrotiri life at the time of the volcanic eruption in 1538 BC. The Minoan people of Akrotiri were a highly advanced civilisation. A wealth of beautiful wall paintings revealed a highly artistic and peaceful culture. Unearthed objects showed a society of rich merchants plying their trade throughout the Mediterranean, spanning what are now Southern Europe, the Middle East and Northern Africa. Their technological achievements were just as impressive. Four storey buildings, hot and cold running water, and indoor plumbing were just a few of the many wonders that this ancient city held. It was hard to imagine that only five percent of the city had been excavated to date!

The original discoverer of Akrotiri, Spiridon Marinatos, had died in the early 70's, at which time Professor Doumas took over. When Daniel and Jeanie were still at university, Professor Doumas gave a seminar about modern Grecian excavation techniques. Daniel had earned a few blunt comments from the professor when he pointed out that the excavation methods being used were, at best, a bit dated. At the memory, he chuckled out loud, disturbing Jack.

Jack's irritated growl of "Daniel! Go to sleep!" emerged from the seat across from him.

"Jack, you know I can't sleep on long-haul flights," Daniel replied softly. "Don't worry. I'll be fine."

"It's not you I'm worried about!" was the short response, as Jack rolled over in his seat trying to get comfortable.

Feeling the pulse of a headache behind his eyes, Daniel closed them for a moment and pinched the bridge of his nose. How could he persuade Jeanie to turn this section of the dig over to them? How could he convince her that he wasn't out to steal her glory? It was precisely this point that led Jeanie to come to him for help and not the Greek government. "Brave woman," he muttered.

"Daniel?" Sam's voice floated across the aisle.

"Hmm?" said Daniel. "Oh. Sorry. I was just thinking about Jeanie."

"Oh."

Daniel hesitated for a moment, then elaborated further, "I was thinking about the risk she's taking by not presenting her discovery to the Greek authorities. After all, they pay her salary. They could just fire her and replace her with someone else."

"I meant to ask you something else about the tablet." Sam leant forward and lowered her voice even more. "Has anyone else at the dig seen it? Her co-workers or associates?"

"I wouldn't think so. She sealed the room until she could get a specialist on site. She only took enough time to take a few photos."

"Do you think she'll mind if we use any of the equipment we're taking?" said Sam, her eyes lighting up with anticipation.

"Well, it's bound to be more advanced than anything she'll have on site."

"Oh, for cryin' out loud, guys!" Jack's grouchy voice interrupted the quiet. "Listen. It's one a.m. in Colorado and we don't arrive in Greece for another four hours. Can't you forget about talking shop and get some sleep!"

Daniel bit back a sigh, thinking about the very long four hours ahead of him. "Uh. sorry, Jack." Somehow he managed to keep the frustration out of his voice. Standing, he continued, "I think I'll go and stretch my legs." Putting the papers down on his seat, he moved towards the back of the plane (and the coffee).

Jack muttered a derisive "Scientists!" He then glared briefly at Sam before covering his head with a blanket. Sam just gave an apologetic grin. Jack was obviously not happy with the exchange that he and General Hammond had after the briefing was finished. It was a disgruntled Jack that boarded the transport in Colorado. He felt like he was suffocating under a mass of historical mumbo-jumbo that he would have to bluff his way through. At least they had taken the time to flesh out their respective parts a bit more. As an 'excavation specialist', he could be part of the team without having to worry so much about the historical stuff.

-----

Daniel, Jack and Teal'c busily loaded the equipment into the rented Huey while Sam folded her civilian pilots' licence back into her wallet. "I'm glad I kept up my civilian licence," Sam mused. "I thought it might come in handy one day. It's good to get back in the air again. especially in one of these old birds!"

Jack glanced up, then broke into a wry grin. "Think you could give us a hand here?" he asked sarcastically, as he gently loaded a small crate of explosives into the helicopter.

The team made quick work of loading their gear and was airborne with little delay. It was a relatively short flight from Athens to Santorini. As they approached the island, the view from the air was magnificent. A large, crescent shaped island partially surrounded the volcanic cone in the centre. The remnants of the outer rim could be seen in the two slivers of barren rock that nestled between the points of the crescent. Before the eruption, the island had gone by the name Thera. One could only imagine what Thera had looked like before being destroyed by the biggest volcanic explosion in recorded history.

As Sam deftly piloted the Huey to the helipad near the dig, they could see a solitary figure standing nearby. "That must be Jeanie," Daniel shouted, his comment almost drowned out by the noise of the rotors. A few moments later, the helicopter touched down to a soft landing. Sam cut the engines before everyone started to pile out, Daniel being the first one out the door. Covering his hat with his arm, he strode towards the waiting figure.

Jeanie was a petite woman with short, brown hair. Dressed in khaki shorts, a loose white shirt, a wide brimmed hat and sunglasses, she was obviously comfortable with the particularly hot climate of Greece in late August. Clutching a clipboard to her chest, she smiled as Daniel approached. "Hey. it's been a while," she said, spreading her arms to give Daniel a hug.

Daniel returned the hug, nearly losing his hat in the process. "It must be more than ten years," he replied.

"Nearly fifteen, but who's counting?" Jeanie grinned, as she stepped back, looking Daniel up and down. "You haven't changed a bit. I'm surprised my letter found you so quickly. I sent it to the university, but I had no idea where you were. The last I heard was the reaction to your paper about the 'true age' of the pyramids. I haven't seen anything published by you since then. What have you been doing, living in a monastery trying to live that one down?"

Daniel grinned sheepishly, "Eh. well. I got kinda side-tracked, but I have been keeping my hand in. mainly doing research."

As the rest of SG-1 approached from behind Daniel, Jack interrupted with "So, Daniel, are you going to introduce us?"

"Um. yeah. Dr Jeanette Reay, I'd like to introduce you to my team." Daniel made an opened-handed gesture to those now standing beside him. "This is Dr Samantha Carter, our astrophysicist."

"Call me Sam," she said, offering her hand.

Jeanie took it with a smile. "Jeanie. Astrophysicist? Strange discipline to bring on an archaeological dig."

"Yeah, but we've found it invaluable to use cross-discipline techniques, especially when dealing with civilisations that made use of constellations and stellar movements in their construction." The two women grinned at each other. "Besides which," continued Sam, "I'm also a keen amateur archaeologist, specialising in Egypt."

Daniel continued the introductions. "And this is our excavation specialist, Jack O'Neill."

Jack raised his hand with a brief wave. "Hi."

"And this is Teal'c. He's one of the best Egyptian translators I know."

Jeanie laughed softly. "Wow. Coming from Daniel that's some praise indeed." She paused thoughtfully. "Teal'c. That's an unusual name. Where are you from, Teal'c?"

Teal'c noticed Jack glaring at him, before he replied, "Egypt."

"Oh," Jeanie responded. "Most unusual. I'll have to remember that one."

Daniel, in an attempt to deflect the conversation, interrupted with, "So, Jeanie. Tell me about the tablet. How did you find it?"

Jeanie started leading the group away from the helipad. "Well, I was testing out some new sonar equipment that I planned on using at the main dig site. I chose an out-of-the-way area that had been believed to be of no significant archaeological interest. I wanted to make sure it was calibrated properly for the specific local conditions."

Daniel saw where this was going. "And you found something unexpected?"

Jeanie chuckled, "You got THAT right! According to the readings, there was some sort of chamber just below the surface. But the density readings weren't what I expected at all. They appeared much more solid than what had already been found at the main site. Needless to say, I just had to investigate further!"

"I couldn't afford to take anyone off the main dig site. It's expanded so much in the last five years." She gave Daniel a knowing glance. "More up to date excavation techniques have helped a lot."

Daniel looked embarrassed at the reminder of his audacious attitude to Professor Doumas. Jeanie just laughed before continuing, "It took a few days to uncover enough so that I could find an entrance that I could use. What I found was a partially collapsed room with very little in it at all. However, just a little digging near the far end of the room revealed the tablet." She paused to catch her breath. "When I realised what was on it, my first thought was 'This is my big break!' Then reality stepped in. If I made this public now, before any translation was done, I would likely be pushed aside and not given any involvement in following this up. That's when I thought of you. By the way, what did you make of the pictures I sent you?"

"Fascinating stuff," he conceded, trying to conceal his concern over the detail of the text itself. "I'm sure my team and I can be of great help to you. We have had experience of this sort of thing before."

"Really," Jeanie commented. "Then why haven't you published anything in the last seven years?"

"Uh. well. I've had a lot of other things on my mind." Trying to keep on the subject of the tablet, Daniel asked, "Do you have any more photos of the tablet or the room itself? I'd like to familiarise myself with what you have before we take a closer look."

Noticing Daniel's reluctance to talk further, Jeanie removed a large envelope from her clipboard and passed it to him. "Same as ever. Riveted to the task at hand." She looked up at the sky. "Well, we're not going to be able to do much until early evening anyway. It's way too hot to go nosing around the room now. Unlike the main site, this place is totally uncovered." She glanced at Teal'c, dressed in fatigue pants and a black T-shirt, and said, "Besides which, you guys may want to freshen up and change first."

After a short walk, they arrived at a tent large enough for the entire team. Jeanie directed a comment at Teal'c. "Aren't you a bit hot dressed like that?"

Teal'c returned his usual stoic expression. "I am fine. The heat does not affect me."

"Suit yourself," she replied. "Here's your tent. I hope you find it suitable. The Ritz it's not."

Jack replied, "That's OK. We've had worse."

"Just let me know if you need anything else. You'll find my tent over near the main site." Jeanie glanced at her watch. "I'll be back to get you at six. See you then."

-----

Shortly before six, Jeanie came to collect the team and led them to her private dig site. The scene was typical for that part of the island: light scrubland and volcanic debris scattered all over. Where Jeanie had been digging, a steep slope had been dug down about two metres; enough to allow access to the room beyond. Jeanie glanced at Teal'c. "I only made the entrance big enough for myself. I think we may need to clear a bit more to allow us all to get through."

The rest of SG-1 smiled as Teal'c just looked as stone-faced as ever. Jack, patting Teal'c on the shoulder, almost laughed as he said, "Come on, big boy!" in a husky voice. Sam broke out in hysterics, and the whole group were soon enjoying the joke.

While Jack and Teal'c enlarged the entrance, Daniel and Sam studied the photos Jeanie had taken. By the time they could all get through, they knew what to expect. What greeted them was exactly as the photos had depicted: a small, rubble filled rectangular room, two metres by three metres. Daniel walked to the far end of the room to examine the tablet, partially cleared by Jeanie. "Your photos didn't really give me any idea of its size," said Daniel, as he peered intently at the text. The tablet was less than two feet long and slightly wider.

"Have you had a chance to translate any of it yet?" Jeanie queried. "All I recognise is some of the names in the cartouches in the Egyptian section at the top. I never spent much time studying Linear B. I've been picking up as much of it as I could since I uncovered the tablet. What's puzzling me is the third column of those strange hieroglyphs. They're the same in all three sections. I've never seen anything like them before. It's like it a whole new language."

Jack cleared his throat.

"I only managed to translate all the Egyptian names," Daniel lied. "I thought if we could examine the rest of the room, we might get more clues to the rest of the text."

"Good idea," said Jack, with uncharacteristic enthusiasm. "Sam. Teal'c. Let's start moving some of this rubble out of the way."

"How about starting over here, near the tablet?" Sam pointed as she spoke. "This looks like it might be some kind of archway."

"It's as good a place as any," replied Jack.

"Indeed," rumbled Teal'c.

Within the hour, the five of them had revealed what was obviously a collapsed passageway. "Well," shrugged Sam, "I don't think we're going to be able to dig through that!" Her remarks were directed at the large conglomeration of fused rock blocking most of the entrance to what might be another chamber beyond.

With a flash of inspiration, Jack held up his finger and exclaimed, "I can do that. I can DO that!" He grinned, making his way to the exit. "I'll be back in ten minutes. I just need to get some stuff out of the Huey."

In the meantime, Daniel had paused to drink some water and wipe his face when Jeanie called to him from the other end of the room. "Daniel! Look at this." Daniel hurried over. Jeanie was holding a larger chunk of the rubble they had been moving. What she showed to Daniel had a flat face with more hieroglyphics on one side.

Daniel muttered what he could read of the partial name in part of a cartouche, "Har." He frowned. "Hey, guys? Can you give us a hand here?" Teal'c and Sam made their way towards Daniel. "I need to find the other half of this," he said, showing the fragment to the group. "If it's here, it should be among the rubble we've just moved."

Piece by piece, the four of them began to examine the rubble they had so carefully exhumed from the other end of the room. After a few minutes, Teal'c paused, examining a lump of rock more closely. Noticing his pause, Sam moved closer. "Have you found it?"

"No," replied Teal'c softly, "However, I believe that I have found something else of significance." He showed the rock to Sam, revealing a melted gouge surrounded by scorch marks. "This appears to have been made by a staff weapon."

As Sam's eyes widened in surprise, Daniel suddenly shouted, "I think I've found it!" Daniel stood up examining the two pieces of rock he held together while the rest of the group surrounded him. "That's strange," he mumbled. "This is different to the tablet." Looking up at his companion, he asked "Teal'c, how do you pronounce this name?" He handed the pieces to the Jaffa, who frowned as he read it.

"I believe that it is pronounced 'Har-sa-iset', but I have never seen that particular reference. It does not make sense."

"Interesting," commented Daniel. "That's the second time you've not recognised that derivation of this name."

"I do not understand, DanielJackson."

"Nor do I," interrupted Sam. "Daniel, what's so important about that name?"

"Well, it's not so much the name as the various translations of it. In English, it reads 'Horus, the son of Isis'. But it's the Greek translation that's far more important."

"Why?"

Jeanie stepped forward and responded, "In Greek, it translates to 'Harsiesis'."

A stunned silence descended on the room. Sam went wide-eyed, looking from Jeanie to Daniel, then to Teal'c. In a hushed voice Sam spoke what all the SG team members were all thinking.

"Oh, my God."

TBC 


	3. History of the Ages

Chapter 3

History of the Ages.

The light at the entrance to the atrium flickered as Jack rejoined his team with a chirpy "Good morning, Campers!". But the words died on his lips as he glanced from face to shocked face. He glanced down at his zipper to make sure that he wasn't making a fool of himself, then looked to the perplexed Jeanie. "Wha'd I miss?"

Jeanie shook her head and shrugged, not sure why the translation had silenced the rest of the team. "Don't ask me, ask them. They presented me with..."

"Uhhh...Jack" Daniel tried to tentatively interrupt.

Jeanie took the stones from Daniel and passed them to Jack, who looked at them and frowned. "What's this say?"

Jeanie glanced at the others. "That's one of the names of Horus."

"Jack...We need to talk." Daniel roused himself enough to retrieve the stones from him, while the other two muttered softly to themselves out of earshot. "Jack, this is something that we must talk about. Privately!"

Jeanie scowled. "You're not keeping me out of this, Daniel! This is my dig and you promised that I'd get full credit for it."

"Jeanie, please listen..." Daniel moved closer to his old friend. "We're not trying to take this away from you, but part of my recent research has involved a lot of information about Horus." He paused, trying to think about how best to phrase the next comment. "Jack, Sam, Teal'c and I just need to talk about this find. It changes a lot of things."

Jack sighed, still confused and unhappy. "Listen, Daniel, let's just get back to the tent and you can tell me what's going on?"

-----

The tent flap twitched as Jack peered over at the party in the main camp. No one was anywhere near their tent, which was a good thing. They were all having an end-of-week celebration. Jack turned back to the other three.

"So you're tellin' me that Horus was called Harsiesis?" Jack frowned as he tried to take in this information.

Daniel sipped from his coffee and then nodded. "Yes, that's one of the names the Greeks gave him. The name on this tablet is 'Har-sa-iset', or 'Harsiesis'. Y'see, the Horus of myth was a strange one. There were two versions of his story." He sipped more coffee, grimacing at the bitter taste. He stood, added another spoon of sugar to the mug, sipped from it and sighed in satisfaction.

"Alright," he continued, looking at the other three. "Horus had two forms. Solar Horus, the Son of Ra and Hathor, AKA Heru-ur." Teal'c nodded at that, but a small frown started to creep over his face as Daniel continued. "The other form was Osirian Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris."

"DanielJackson," Teal'c interrupted. "I have never seen a reference to Horus being the son of Isis and Osiris."

Daniel shook his head. "Not as far as the knowledge of the Jaffa are concerned, Teal'c. We are all told that there are stories where Osiris was killed by his brother, Seth and Horus avenged him. That's how he became known as Horus the Avenger." Teal'c tilted his head to one side, his eyes gleaming with curiosity and a little confusion.

Daniel sat down and started to relate the mythology of the Osirian Horus as the music from the revelry outside continued softly.

-----

Jeanie was concerned. She had not heard from any of her four visitors since they had rushed off to their tent for some seclusion. She was begining to suspect that they were more than they seemed. The way that they worked together showed trust, certainly. But Jack... he was obviously not an archaeologist. Jeanie just didn't know what he was.

She heard raised voices from inside the tent. Not an argument, but obviously not a quiet discussion. She didn't have to stand very close before she could make out the words.

"We all know that Heru'ur is dead, Daniel." That was Jack, always outspoken.

"Yes, Jack, but don't you see? If Heru'ur was a normal Goa'uld it wouldn't fit with the Osirian Horus myth. What if..."

"Colonel, don't you see?" That must be Sam, the only woman of the group. But who was she calling Colonel? "If this Harsiesis name is a reference to the Osirian Horus then what if the Osirian Horus was Harsiesis... Or even the first Harsiesis?"

"Indeed. The Goa'uld must have already encountered a Harsiesis to know what one of them would be capable of." The deep, rumbling voice could only be that of the Egyptian, Teal'c. She continued to listen as things started to fall into place for them, but this only made Jeanie more confused. They were talking as if these gods of myth were real!

"Alright, alright." Jack calmed them down a bit, his voice commanding. He must be the one they referred to as Colonel. That made a little more sense. "Listen, we know what a Harsiesis child is capable of. And you're right, it might explain why there's two myths for him on Earth. Let's get down to business."

There was general movement in the tent as Jeanie slipped away. There was something strange about the whole conversation and she intended to find out what. But that would have to wait. She'd just tell the guys at the main camp that those four didn't want to join their party. What worried her most was that they were military! Now she knew why Daniel hadn't published anything for the last few years.

-----

Jack looked up as he heard a faint noise outside. A swift gesture soon shut up all of the team and he stood. Peering out of the tent flap, he saw the shadowed figure of Jeanie moving on the outskirts of the main camp. He frowned, then turned back to the others. "It was Jeanie. I don't know what she heard. We need to be more careful about what we say, guys." They all nodded sagely.

"Daniel, what can we expect to find in the main chamber?" enquired Sam.

"Well, if it's anything like the one I found on Abydos, the walls will be carved with StarGate symbols."

"And if it's not?" Jack questioned.

"If not, then I can only guess what a room of such importance could hold. To be honest, I don't know."

-----

"Fire in the hole!" Jack's voice rang out with warning. Jeanie and the members of SG-1 ducked outside the small chamber, and Daniel covered his ears. The contained explosion sent small shock-waves through the soles of their feet, even though it made little noise. Jack stood up a few seconds later. Moving inside, he called the others when he was satisfied that it was safe.

For the most part, Jack's controlled explosion had removed the majority of the melted slag-pile. What was left no longer presented itself as an obstacle. Daniel and Jeanie, eyes eagerly alight, forged into the next room, then fell into silence, jaws agape.

What greeted them were walls coated in quartz, gems and precious metals, highlighting an amount of intact heiroglyphics the like of which had never been seen before in such a small space. They gazed around them in stunned awe, while the other three filed in. Their reactions were similar as they brushed fingers against raised pictographs, or just turned on the spot, eyes wide with amazement.

Teal'c spoke, his deep bass voice over-filling the room, despite how quietly he talked. "DanielJackson, never have I seen the like of this room before. It holds riches more than any throne room." He moved to the nearest corner of the room, reading some of it to himself. Daniel and Jeanie turned to each other, each pointing to some of the larger murals, until Sam spoke.

"Daniel, look at this one." Sam was standing near a medium sized mural, depicting a pharaoh, as Daniel later explained, wearing the double-crown of both upper and lower Egypt. The crown was inlaid with a thin layer of rich, red ruby and creamy white ivory. The skirt of the Pharaoh was formed of carved amber, a gleaming counterpoint to the gold of the background. Lines had been carved in the hard substance to give the impression of pleats. Standing behind the Pharaoh were a handful of what appeared to be bodyguards, their attire sculpted using similar methods to the skirt the Pharaoh wore.

Adorned in lapis and ebony, another figure stood opposite the Pharaoh with what looked like a cobra wrapped around his wrist. Arranged behind him were several figures carved with jackal heads, inlaid with silver and ebony. Each of them bore a staff with a hooded headpiece resembling a cobra.

A gasp of recognition came from the stunned Dr Jackson, as he finally thought to raise the camera and take a few shots. Sam leaned in close, so that Jeanie wouldn't over hear. "Daniel, that's GOT to be Ra and doesn't that look like a Zat gun in his hand?"

"Hmm?" Daniel blinked, then leaned forward to peer more closely at the hand. "Well, it's hard to tell, but considering that it looks like a snake about to strike, yes..." His whispered reply was cut short as Jeanie called him over.

"Daniel! Come here. There's a whole load more of those strange pictographs that were on the stone outside!"

Daniel hurried over, looking at ten Stargate addresses with a surprised look. "Sam! Look at this!"

Sam moved from the mural. Walking past a bored Jack O'Neill with an apologetic shrug, she joined Daniel and Jeanie on the other side of the room. "They... look familiar, Daniel." Sam recovered very well. "Have you photographed them? Perhaps we'll be able to use them to decipher the meaning?"

Jeanie shook her head. "There's only two different ones from the ones out front. I think we'll need more than these few to figure out what they mean."

Daniel glanced up and then muttered "Well, if it's a language, perhaps we can use these examples to identify some of the more common images." Jeanie nodded as Daniel took more photographs.

"DanielJackson." Teal'c rumbled, from his corner of the room. "This appears to be the story of Har-sa-iset." The Jaffa was lost in thought as he continued to read. Daniel's eyes lit up again.

"Of course! What better to protect than forbidden knowledge! Jeanie, do you trust me?" The young dig-leader nodded slightly, very confused. "Good!" gushed Daniel. "Don't tell anyone about this yet. Let's get this translated first, before we go announcing about finding all of this. We have to find out what it all means first."

Jeanie sighed. "Daniel, why won't you tell me exactly what you're up to?"

Daniel just looked innocent, blinking at his old friend. "We're uncovering what could possibly be the biggest find in the history of our world, Jeanie! Look at it this way. One, you have Egyptian carvings and heiroglyphics in a long-buried chamber in Greece! Two, this chamber is from a time when it was believed that Egypt was only a regional power and not an empire! Three, the Egyptian language was not as developed as this at the time Acrotiri was buried... or so we thought! Four, we've discovered elements of a previously unknown language..."

Jeanie crossed her arms, listening to Daniel rattle on. "Daniel." She stopped him with the single, hard-edged word. "You never did tell a good lie. What, PRECISELY, are you up to, Daniel Jackson?"

Daniel glanced at Sam, Jack and Teal'c for assistance before turning back to Jeanie. "You've already said you trust me, Jeanie... I can't tell you everything, but we've been searching for a place like this for the last four years!" Jeanie cocked her head to one side, then sighed in exasperation.

"Daniel, you'll tell me sooner or later, but for now I won't tell a soul. You're right, we need to know exactly what this says, before we continue."

"DanielJackson, it would appear that this is a diary, of sorts. It appears to detail the life of a man named Har-sa-iset." With the opportunity to escape Jeanie's questioning, Daniel scurried over to the corner where Teal'c was reading. Jeanie sighed, moving to study one of the larger murals.

Jack gestured to Sam for her to join him in the passageway, speaking in an undertone. "Sam, you realise that if she begins to step out of line, we WILL have to find a way of shutting her up, don't you?"

Sam nodded, glancing at Teal'c and the two archaeologists. "Yes sir, but I think we can trust her at the moment. Don't worry, sir, I'll keep my eye on her."

Jack just nodded, crossing his arms and watching the room. He dismissed Sam with a brief nod.

-----

"By the command and will of the Lord Horus, I set down these words so that future generations may know the truth and tremble at the terrible consequenses of surrendering to the Gods as we know them."

Daniel glanced up from his notepad and pointed to a series of heiroglyphics. Conferring with Teal'c, he continued his transcription of the main text.

"In the years when the God Osiris was maimed by his brother, Seth, Isis and Osiris endevoured to create a new 'Ba' to house the 'Ka' of Osiris. Although forbidden to the Gods, Isis and Osiris comforted each other as if they were mortal. Their forbidden love created our Lord. However, the babe was too small to house the Ka of the great God Osiris. When the other Gods discovered their deed, Isis and Osiris were judged. Ra, the father of all Gods, sat in decree and sentenced the parents of our Lord to slavery in the pits of Black Quartz."

Daniel frowned, then glanced at Teal'c. "Naquadah?" The Jaffa nodded. "They were sentenced to mine the Naquadah pits?" Again, Teal'c nodded. Daniel shook his head in disgust as he continued.

"The young child, Horus was witness to the terrible day when brother betrayed brother. Seth, brother of Osiris, had known about Horus. He had decided that the fate of his brother and his sister should be worse than the fate the Gods had meted out to him for his betrayal. Horus watched the events unfold and witnessed his parents brought low.

"Only a child, bewildered and alone, he stumbled from the ruinous palace and emerged on the edge of the Nile. But he knew something that none other did. He could hear the words of the alligators. He could understand the whisper of the ibis. He could talk with the tongue of the asp.

"He travelled as he grew to maturity. Far from his home, borne on a boat of reeds, he found a small island which the locals had named Thera. Here our Lord and his followers settled at the top of the mount.

"He studied the ways of the world, the histories, the knowledge. He created..."

Daniel frowned, shaking his head. "I have never seen this word before, Teal'c."

The Jaffa shook his head. "I am unfamiliar with this one, also. I believe the concept is what you call Utopia, but that is not what the word means."

Daniel sighed, drawing the odd combination of Heiroglyps and writing '(Utopia?)' in the margin. He scowled again. "That's odd... It says that Horus developed magics to protect this Utopia from the elements." Teal'c nodded, confirming the translation, and Daniel continued to write.

"Our Lord created the passages that led to the halls of Utopia, and the great archways of our home. Our hopes lay in the accumulated knowledge of Lord Horus, which we stored in our new home, that one day a way could be found to drive away the false Gods that had imprisoned our families with their myth.

"Our Lord warned us that his parents were but two of those Gods, and not necessarily on our side. His words of warning were true, for ten years after the Gods declared war on Our Lord, the Sun God Ra, sent Our Lord's father and mother to capture their wayward son. Lord Horus knew their ways and knew their weaknesses. With his skill of magic, Lord Horus removed the Ka from his parents, imprisoning them for all eternity."

Sam interrupted Daniel at this point, "Could that be a reference to the two stasis jars that we found? We know that one of those contained Osiris."

Daniel, chewing thoughtfully on the end of his pen, replied "That makes perfect sense! This is actually filling in a lot of blanks relating to our recent..." he paused, glancing at Jeanie, "discoveries."

Jack sighed, pulling his cap over his face as he leaned back, "Just get on with it, Daniel!".

"Ra was displeased, but there was fear in his heart. What God had the power to free the Ba from the Ka? Lord Horus was no God, yet he had the knowledge of all of their magics. The battles were fierce, but He won each one. Eventually, Ra withdrew from these lands and left Our Lord in peace."

Daniel rubbed at his tired eyes. It had taken them five days to photograph each panel of the chamber and to transcribe the story written there. Daniel could quite easily see the parallels with the history that they knew of Goa'uld, but the story in the chamber seemed incomplete. There was nothing about the death of Horus. Nothing about the way Ra left Earth. Despite filling in lots of gaps in his knowledge, the end of the story was missing. He sighed. Well at least they could continue with the excavation of the smaller chamber that had been found on the second day. But Daniel needed rest... or coffee. It depended on which he could get first.

He stood, wincing as his back and neck muscles popped from stiffness. Stretching to work out a few kinks from sitting and staring at these walls for days, he glanced at his watch. Three hours before the others would get here. That's three hours of sleep. He moved groggily out of the chamber and back to the tent.

-----

"Jeanie?" Daniel queried.

"Mmm?" Jeanie looked up from the drawing she was making of some of the larger carvings.

"Can you get us some more water? We're out of coffee." Daniel looked at her with eyes that just melted any opposition to the idea.

Jeanie laughed softly and replied "Sure, Daniel. No problem."

Satisfied that she was gone, Sam looked at the wall carving in the smaller chamber. A tall warrior, holding a long pike of ivory, stood at attention. His skirt was carved from the purest silver. He wore a helm of silver and rose quartz. His hand was covered by an elegantly carved gauntlet with a blood red garnet embedded. Sam was carefully brushing away dust to reveal a small groove running around the edge of the gem. "Colonel, this looks like a button..."

Curious, the team gathered around Sam to watch as the garnet was fully revealed. "Do you think this might open some kinda door or panel?" Jack asked. As all eyes turned to him, he held up his hands in defence, "Hey, don't look at me. You guys understand all this... scientific stuff."

Jeanie's whistling started to grow louder again as they continued to talk in whispers.

Sam smirked and said "Well, there's only one way to find out", then pressed the garnet firmly. As a circle of light appeared on the floor, SG-1 knew what this was. They pulled their arms in close, wondering where this would lead.

As Jeanie approached the room, she heard a strange, deep thrumming noise followed by five rhythmic thuds. As she entered the whole chamber was filled with light. Dropping the jug of water she had in her hand she saw five, solid, heavy rings surrounding Daniel and his friends. Then Daniel, his friends were gone and the rings vanished into the floor.

TBC 


	4. Past Imperfect

Chapter 4

Past Imperfect.

SG-1 blinked away the blurring effect of travelling through the rings, their eyes growing used to the dim light in the tunnel they found themselves. "Tok'ra tunnels?" Sam's voice alerted them all to the incongruity of their current location.

Each finally noticed what Sam had been the first to see, the crystalline structure of the dimly glowing Tok'ra tunnels covering the floor, the walls and the ceiling. Jack frowned. He felt slightly nervous as he looked around at this unexpected location. The end of the tunnel where they found themselves was rounded, a stub chamber grown from the main tunnel. Cautiously, he gestured for the others to follow him as he headed in the only direction given to them considering that the chamber was empty of everything except the pattern of rings engraved in the floor.

Suddenly the rings lit up. Jack reached to the concealed knife in his boot, throwing it to Teal'c. As Sam drew her own one, Jack reached into his waistband to retrieve his pistol. Daniel reached for the only weapon he had; his trowel. Taking aim, Jack squinted through the light of the active transporter, ready to shoot the newcomer.

The light faded as the rings vanished back into the floor, leaving a very disoriented Jeanie gaping at the room and the experience she'd just gone through. "Jeanie!" Daniel's voice cut through the air, as he stepped forward.

Taking a few deep breaths, Jeanie took a very slow glance around the room, her wide eyes finally stopping on the man who's voice had greeted her. They travelled down to the brandished trowel and, in an attempt to drive off her own fear, she put on an air of affrontry. Her hands rested on her hips and her eyes turned steely. "Daniel Jackson, don't you dare threaten me with that trowel!"

Daniel blinked, then apologetically pushed the trowel behind his back, avoiding that harsh glare from his friend. Meanwhile in the background, Teal'c raised an eyebrow, the ghost of a smile gracing his lips, while Jack and Sam were trying desperately not to laugh. Jeanie took a better look around the room. Begining to feel nervous again she sheepisly asked "Where the hell are we?"

Daniel cast a pained look at his three team mates, then looked back to Jeanie. "Well... Ummmm." he hesitated, not really sure what he could or couldn't say. He looked at Jack, silently asking what he could or couldn't say. As his colonel regained his composure, Daniel glanced at Jeanie. "Jack, she's here. We really should tell her what's happening."

"Yes... Colonel... I think you should." snapped a now nervous, but irritated Jeanie as she passed Daniel and approached the other three.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Peachy." was all he said, before gesturing at Daniel and sighing.

"Jeanie, you see..." Daniel hesitated, then took a deep breath. "The thing is, we did recognise the writing that you sent me. That strange writing. We've seen it before. In Egypt."

"DanielJackson speaks the truth" rumbled the basso voice of Teal'c, filling the small chamber easily.

"It's where we first met Teal'c," Daniel continued, undaunted. "And we found something like those rings there, too. Where it led us... well let's just say that it was unprecedented, but also seriously dangerous... so much so that the military have been involved." He stopped, sighing. "So now you know why I haven't published in a few years. I mean, can you imagine? All those theses that I wrote, all those seminars I held, with my theories? They weren't that far off base. Except... well, we still don't know who built..." he raised his arms gesturing at the cave, "all this!"

Jeanie now turned to look at Sam and Jack. A sudden dawning of comprehension painted her petite face. "So I was right. You two aren't scientists."

Sam smiled and stepped forward. "Actually, I am. I'm an astrophysicist, just like I said... but I'm also a major in the US Air Force."

Daniel cleared his throat and proceeded to re-introduce his companions. "Jeanie, this is Colonel Jack O'Neill and this is Major Samantha Carter."

Jeanie turned to look at Teal'c, "and what about you?"

Before Teal'c could reply, Daniel moved closer, laying a hand on his friend's shoulder, "Teal'c and I are both civilian advisors. The military aren't exactly.. 'clued up' on archaeology and dead languages."

Jeanie laughed hesitantly as she tore her gaze away and looked at Jack. "So should I be saluting or praying that you won't kill me, now that the secret's out."

"Actually," murmered Jack, tucking his pistol back into his pants, "you won't need to worry about that, until we return to the surface." A wolfish smile touched his thin lips, but there was no humour in his dark eyes. "For now, we need to work fast in case someone's home."

Jeanie glanced around at the faces, finally coming to rest on Daniel's face again. "So you don't know if it's safe here, right?" Daniel nodded. "Then what's our plan?"

Daniel smiled a little, then watched as Jack and Teal'c slipped away. "They're going to scout the area, to make sure that we're alone. Then you, I and Sam will look through anything we can find. We're looking for any kind of information; more writings, pictographs... that kind of thing."

"Oh." murmered Jeanie. She moved to touch the wall. "What is this? It feels almost alive..."

Sam moved up, to just behind her elbow. "We're still unsure of it's composition, but it's exactly what was found in Egypt. Some sort of quartz."

----------

Daniel, Sam and Jeanie had made themselves comfortable, while they waited for Jack and Teal'c. Sam kept a sharp eye on the corridor, just in case. The sound of Jack whistling a jaunty tune echoed down the corridors a mere ten minutes later. "Well..." he said as he rounded the corner, "the bad news is that it looks like we're alone. The good news is... we've hit paydirt! There's a whole slew of pictures on the walls and some dead guy near a collapsed tunnel."

Daniel jumped to his feet. "Where?" As Jack gestured, Daniel was off, his feet carrying him towards the exit.

Jack volunteered a bit more information as he lead the way. "Looks like he was some sort of priest from his robes, but you guys are the experts. Why don't you all take a look?"

Jeanie was already following Daniel at a more sedate pace, listening to his receeding footsteps, almost drowned out by her own and Sam's.

The tunnels glistened, shedding their own small amount of light on the passage of their guests, providing ample illumination on the skeleton they found Teal'c guarding. The years had leeched him of all flesh. The bones were shrouded in tattered rags of what looks to have been robes laced with some chain-mail segments over the heart and the lower abdomen. Clutched in one hand was a small tablet of what looked like stone. In the other hand was an S-shaped lump of metal which Jeanie did not recognise. Daniel was already kneeling beside the corpse, carefully prying the tablet from brittle bones.

The legs of the skeleton were twisted, broken in places. Jeanie leant in, examining the injuries carefully. "The bones haven't regrown. Both Fibulae were snapped. It was almost surgical in the precision, and they were broken at the same place on each leg." She looked up at Sam, "this is probably what killed him."

A hollow, cracking sound was heard, followed by a curse as Daniel's ministrations caused the skull to topple from the shoulders of the dead priest. Jeanie turned her attention back to what Daniel was working on, not noticing that the lump of metal had disappeared.

Daniel sat back on his heels, looking down at the small tablet in his hands. It was no bigger than a PDA in size - little over 4 inches in height, and two in width - but it was thinner, as if carved from a small chunk of slate. Jeanie could not quite see the writing on it, but she could see Daniel holding it as his lips moved in translation.

Time seemed to slow for Daniel, as he worked on the contents of the tablet. The others drifted away to explore the rest of the complex, leaving Daniel and Jeanie to complete the translation.

----------

"Here are the last words of our Lord's most faithful of followers.

"By the reckoning of time as our Lord has taught us, it is the year 937 after the sealing of the great pyramid, 938 years after our liberation from the father of our Lord's father.

"We have been betrayed. The priests of our Lord Har-sa-iset have been betrayed from within. Our Lord lies dead.

"The one known as Heru-akhen - he who is in service to our Lord Her - has betrayed us. He was the one man to whom Lord Horus had entrusted faith and knowledge. It was our Lord's closest advisor who betrayed us. I heard him, at the end, laughing with glee for the destruction he had wrought. 'Know the strength of he who has become Heru-ur!' he exhalted, as he shattered my legs. He has taken our Lord's head to the Chappa'i, collapsing the tunnel behind him and damning those of us left alive."

------

"Daniel!" The tone of urgency in Sam's voice cut through Daniel's musings and he looked up from the tablet, rising to his feet to meet her as she approached him.

"Sam?" he queried, standing and sliding the tablet into his pack. "What is it?"

She brushed her hand through her hair, then smiled. "I found something you might want to look at." She paused as he cocked his head to one side, then glanced at Jeanie. "Ummm..." it was too important to hide now. "We found a holograph and lots of crystals. And you just have to see what's on them!"

As Sam made motions to return through the corridors, Jeanie and Daniel followed. Eventually the corridor opened up into a large chamber... a huge chamber. The ceiling rose above them to a dome. The roof showing little sign of it's age, only one long crack running down the opposite side. As Daniel scanned the ceiling, his eye was drawn to a large sphere hanging down from the centre. He frowned, walking around two pedestals to stand beneath it. It was about a foot across, but so high up that he could not see it clearly. Even the beam of his torch only revealed a smoke- grey surface that gleamed faintly.

Sam had made herself busy at one of the pedestals, quietly explaining things to Jeanie and Teal'c.

Daniel approached them, eyes riveted to the sphere as he murmered the question weighing on his mind. "What is all this?"

Sam just grinned, then slid a damaged green crystal into one of the gaps in the pedestal. A mist enveloped the room, forcing everyone to squint as a diffused light built up to surround them. Then suddenly it was gone.

The room appeared to have changed. Gone was the crack in the opposite wall, but there were now people here. One walked 'through' Daniel, who yelped, but the sound was ignored by these new.. apparitions. Daniel walked around this man. He was very tall, for an Egyptian, standing nearly six feet. He had a regality and poise that few throughout history had been reknown for.

Daniel examined the man, from his hawk-nose to his gentle brown eyes. There was a sense of exceptional intelligence in this man, something which reminded Daniel of Shifu. "This must be..."

-----

"Lord Horus!" the warning rang out. Horus looked up from his console, cursing as he dropped the crystal he had been holding. "Ra's forces are entering the compound on Thera, Great Lord!"

"What about the Lady, Ha'tan?" he called, frustration evident in his raised voice.

"The 'Lady', my love, is about to leave..." a soft, sultry voice answered him from behind him.

The tall, white-clad figure of Horus turned, a smile gracing his lips as he watched the woman approach. She was clad in simple clothing, non-descript and well designed for camouflage. The various shades of brown made her tanned skin seem darker somehow. Her long, flaxen hair streamed behind her, settling in an animated cloud around her shoulders.

"Egeria..." he murmered. He turned, reaching for the open box beside him. Inside the box, a multitude of crystals of all colours gleamed, caught and refracted the light, casting strange shadows across his face. He closed the lid, then turned, solemnly handing the box to her. His thumb caressed hers gently and he leaned forward to steal a final kiss from her. "Take this, my love. You know what to do."

She nodded, then strode away from him quickly to hide the tears that threatened to fall. It was time to leave the past behind. Time to forge a new future... a new destiny.

Horus staggered as a round of bombardment shook the complex. He had no time to worry for his lover. Now he needed to save as many of his people as he could before Ra exacted revenge.

-----

Daniel blinked as the holograms faded, as disoriented as the rest. "Woah!" came Jack's single comment, startling the rest of the team.

"Sir..." Sam said as she turned to him. "This appears to be some sort of holographic archive! It could be invaluable in trying to piece together exactly what happened here."

"Ummm..." interrupted Daniel "Actually, we do know what happened. One of Horus' lieutennants betrayed him." All eyes were on the young archaeologist now as he continued, feeling a little self-conscious. "It was Heru-ur," he finished.

"Heru-ur would make sense, DanielJackson." Teal'c mused. "It is he, after all, who took on the name and role of Horus, after the death of the Harceisis." The SG-1 team members all nodded, each finding themselves lost in a plethora of thoughts. Jeanie was staring agape where the figures had just recently appeared, stunned and over-awed into silence.

Sam reached for an unblemished, pink crystal, swapping it for the green one. Again, the mist appeared around them, the light growing as the hologramatic history loaded. This time, however, Sam had decided to experiment with the controls in front of her, as she had seen others in the background of the previous recording doing.

------

"Heru-akhen, my friend..." Horus smiled, clasping an arm around the shorter, bald man beside him. "How do you like our new home?"

"It is too cold, and these crystal walls leave much to be desired in the way of aesthetics." the familiar figure murmered sourly. The face of Heru-ur was unmistakable.

"Come, now... You know that we can change that. This is it, my brother. This is the home that we dreamt of for all those years, while we gathered allies and like-minded people to work with us! The Goa'uld will have no choice now but to fear us. Can't you see?" The innocense that sparkled in those intelligent brown eyes seemed slightly out of place.

Heru-ur nodded. "Of course, my Lord."

The honorific seemed to elicit only a frown from Horus, as he stopped pacing and turned to look into the eyes of his second in command. "What has come over you of late, my friend? It's almost as if you resent what we have done here..."

"No, of course I don't." he lied. "It's just that I'm a little uneasy without proper doors to give me privacy. And living under the ground is not exactly... my idea of comfort."

"AH! So that's it. I had forgotten your claustrophobia. You know that you have my permission to leave, whenever you wish. You could go to Akrotiri or, through the Chappa'i, to any world you choose." The smile on Horus' lips had become more gentle, "I had forgotten just how we had met." The memory of freeing Heru-akhen from slavery in the mines was something that he had nearly forgotten. Almost.

"Thank you... Har. I do appreciate it. And I think I might do just that." he smiled a little. "That planet Cimmeria would be a pleasant place to spend the rest of the afternoon. I could finish that bit of writing that I was doing for you and the accolytes." To the untrained eye, it seemed that Heru-ur was speaking honestly when he said that he was happy to do this. Even the embrace that followed was something that looked natural. But to Teal'c, who was looking directly into the holographic eyes of Heru-ur, it was obvious that this was just another deception.

-----

The hologram cut out again, leaving all five looking at empty space.

"MajorCarter..." Teal'c asked, "is there any indication of a date on these records?"

"No. There's nothing to say what order they come in." she muttered, looking down at the controls. "I can't even tell if there's more on these than we've already seen. I really wish that Dad and Selmak were here. They probably know a lot more about this than I do." Her hands moved over the controls, as she peered at the indicators.

-----

This time the scene displayed was of a different room - smaller and more like an office. To one side was a communications console. Filling the rest of the room was a desk and a comfortable-looking chair.

"Great Lord, Ra has contacted us. He wants to speak to you."

Horus frowned as he looked up from his reports, then moved closer to the aide who had summoned him. "What does he want?"

"I do not know, Great Lord. He would not speak to me. He wanted only to speak with you." The aide bowed, before leaving the room.

Horus rolled his eyes, moving to the communication sphere and activating it.

The deceptively young face of Ra filled the small sphere. His long black hair framed a face that was filled with such a malevolent evil and hatred that it made Horus flinch slightly upon meeting those eyes.

"Har-sa-iset. Have you reconsidered your refusal to serve me?"

"Ra, get out of this system before I activate my defenses again. I will not let you enslave these humans again."

"You are a fool, young Harceisis. Every passing moment brings this planet closer to my domination... closer to your death." The hissed words were filled with an overwhelming belief in his superiority.

"Ra, you forget. I have created the one thing that will mean you and the rest of the Goa'uld cannot return. The rebellion I have set in motion will continue, even if I do not."

"You put too much trust in your petty humans. That is your failing."

Horus smiled a little, dark eyes burning with the fire of belief. "Those 'petty humans' are what spawned you, Ra. Remember that. And remember this; the planet of the Tau'ri will never be yours - now or in the future. These humans will protect it and destroy you if you try."

"Horus, you are a fool! You are little more than human yourself! You will be dead before the end of the month." Ra's eyes glowed with his barely- contained anger.

"Maybe. But I have accepted my mortality, Ra. I do not fear death."

"You will. I look forward to introducing you personally... again and again."

The communication and recording ended at the same time.

------

"I don't know about you guys..." interrupted Jack. "But I'm getting hungry. Shall I go back to the dig and get us all some food?" the nods of gratitude from each person was all the answer he needed. He was bored, this was a good excuse to let the scientists do what they did best.

-----

As the light from the rings cleared, Jack thought he felt the ground move under his feet. At first he thought it was the remnants of the ring travel. As he stepped from the platform, there was no mistaking it. The whole floor was vibrating, leaving his teeth rattling in his skull.

Suddenly, the entire room lurched violently, sending him sprawling to the floor. His head rebounded off the corner of the alcove. The island's volcano was starting to speak, like some ancient god awakened from it's slumber feeling grumpy at the disturbance.

The eye of the carving in the niche behind him blinked with a red light that was not visible before. The light flickered off and on, as if it watched over Jack O'Neill's unconscious form.

TBC 


	5. Answers and Unanswerable Questions

Chapter 5

Answers and Unanswerable Questions

The floor rumbled and rattled under his cheek. Jack groaned as the noise sliced through his head causing waves of pain. It was as he tried to clench his fists, expecting to feel the metal of a floor that he realised something wasn't quite right about all of this.

The feeling of disquiet continued as he cracked open an eye, realising that this was not the floor of an APC, but a stone floor... A stone floor that was lit by only dim torches, gleaming in golden hues to his fuzzy senses.

The floor was still rumbling under his body as he slowly pushed himself upright, reaching up to feel the tender, sticky mess in his hair where he'd hit his head. His sluggish brain took a moment to process that the room wasn't moving along on wheels. He remembered that the room had been buried for nearly five thousand years! No, not moving as such... but still shaking, trembling and rumbling, as if some ancient god had stirred.

It was then that he could start to make out faint screams emerging from ouside; terror-filled screams that told Jack one thing. They were in danger. The question was, Goa'uld, or natural.

He rose somewhat unsteadily to his feet and moved through the two chambers to the entrance, squinting against the harsh brightness of the Greek sun. But he seemed to remember the sun being brighter than this. Carefully, but as quickly as he could, he turned towards the sky, then gasped in horror as he saw the huge sulfurous cloud that had started to form over the volcano.

"Not good!" he muttered, turning and heading back towards the ring transport. "Not good at all."

Jena was carefully packing the few crystals she could fit into her satchel. Now she understood where Daniel had been, it only served to make her sad. This miracle, this wonder of ancient technology wouldn't be shared with the public! Noone would EVER know what they had found. She picked up one of the crystals, sighing as she realised that it, too, was damaged. "I hope you can make sense of these, Daniel..." she muttered, carefully stowing it away with the others.

"Dr Rey!" the voice of Jack.. no, Colonel O'Neill cut through her thoughts. "Where're the others?" it wasn't a question that could be ignored, she felt, seeing the thread of panic in his eyes. "Tell me now." it brooked no argument, no question, she instead pointed towards the main chamber, where the others were trying to extract the device. "Good, now get back to the room where we arrived. That's an order, Doctor."

She blinked at him, hearing only the urgency in his voice. "What..?"

"There's no time! Move it!" he yelled, already heading away from her and towards the others.

-----

"There has to be some catch or something." Carter muttered once more, feeling around the pedestal of the display unit, as if the continued search would reveal that which simply wasn't present.

"How do you think we get the .. thing down?" Daniel asked.

"No time for that!" Jack said, running into the chamber. "Pick up what you can, we have to move!"

"What is it, O'Neill?" queried Teal'c, concerned by the agitation that the CO of SG-1 was exhibiting.

"The volcano is about to rip the island apart!" he said, picking up crystals and throwing them into the nearby satchel. He didn't care if they broke, or even if he missed some. The whole reason for the hurry was to save their lives.

"Damnit, just as we were getting somewhere." Daniel said, moving to stand next to Jack and take the bag from him. "And we haven't found another exit!" The expression on his face could only have been described as a pout.

Jack spared a moment to glare at Daniel, took a small step forward in anger, then said "Hurry up. We don't know how long the ring transport will remain intact."

Carter started to gather her few items, then cast a glance to Teal'c. "Let's move it, boys and girl..." Jack said, interrupting anything she might have said, before grasping at someone's wrist and pulling them along the corridors to the ring transport and the only way out of here.

The light of the transport faded, leaving the five travellers momentarily blinded. It was only because they were expecting the earth tremors that they remained upright. Sam grasped at the golden wall for support, then looked along her fingers to where the eyes of Horus seemed to be glowing.. pulsing. "Sir, this wasn't like that, before we left."

Jack turned, about to admonish Sam, when he realised she was right. "Yeah, well we ain't got time to dig it out!" he said, raising his voice above the noise. "IF this place's still standing, in a few days.. and IF we can get here, then MAYBE we'll figure out what's behind that thing. Right now we're all makin' a run for that Hewey and gettin' our butts outta here, before they're blown half-way across the world!"

Sam blinked at her CO, then with a small start realised that the others were already running for the exit and that, if she didn't hurry, she'd be left behind.

"Yessir." she said to his retreating back, starting to run herself.

The thick, pungent stench of the volcanic gasses filled the air with an acrid taste that brought tears to the eyes. "Cover your faces!" Jack ordered, pulling his bandanna out and tying it around his mouth and nose. Too much exposure to this wouldn't be good, for any of them; considering the carcinogens within volcanic smoke.

Daniel slipped, unfortunately landing heavily on the bag as he landed, a soft sound of pain coming from him as the crystals within dug deeply into his hip. Standing, it was now obvious that he wasn't going to keep up. But the noise of the volcano was getting louder, none of the others seemed to notice that he'd dropped behind.

Red flecks had started to dance within the smoke, like motes of iridescent fire, bouyed by the heat and the wind. Daniel paused a moment, letting the pain in his hip fade a little, but it was then that he saw it. The explosion, miles out to sea, that blew the top off the caldera of the Santorin volcano. Daniel gasped as a geyser of molten lava gushed skywards, plummeting back to the earth in a searing moment of destruction. "Thank god we're on the other side of the island.." he muttered, a short prayer of thanks for his life. He shook his head, moving through the miasma of smoke, coughing as he passed through thickened ash which stung his eyes, burned his throat and made him want to throw up. But he wouldn't let it get to him. He had too much that was precious on him to leave it behind.

"Jack!" he yelled, the smoke closing around, too thick to see. "Jack, where are you?" his voice echoed back, reflected after only a short distance, the sound deadened by the emissions from the darkness. A moment of panic wrapped it's icy grip around Daniel's heart, as he briefly entertained the idea that he'd been left behind.

"DanielJackson.." he heard, close to his ear. Teal'c reached over and grabbed the archaeologist's wrist, pulling him towards the airfield. Another explosion rocked the island, as the volcano released more of it's dazzling streams of destruction.

Both men stumbled, unbalanced by the sudden lurching of the island. What god had it in for Daniel that he would have to die like this? The thought, vehemently harsh, was fleeting as he realised he could finally hear the thrumming sound of the chopper blades.

Teal'c helped Daniel to climb to the back of the chopper, then swung the doors shut, effectively stopping more smoke from entering this small haven.

As they rose to the sky, Daniel watched in horrified awe as the extent of the damage was revealed. The island heaved and bucked under the explosions of the newly awakened Santorin, rivulets of lava running from newly formed cracks in the island's surface; destroying anything in it's path.

"No..." he whimpered, a sentiment shared by the equally distraught Jena. Daniel closed his eyes, trying not to picture the untamed destruction happening below.

Daniel lifted his glasses and rubbed at his eyes. Writing reports was certainly not his idea of fun. Tired eyes alit on the crystals that lay on the desk in front of him. To see the damage that had been done to them all made his heart ache. How many had been destroyed as a result of the accidental fall that Daniel had made, while fleeing the devestation? He sighed, looking at the coloured shards that lay on the black velvet of his presentation case. Just three whole crystals left and that truly was a disaster.

Daniel hoped that Jacob would come, perhaps with Anise, to investigate what they had found, or the destruction of Santorini would have been for nothing.

Blue eyes sought out the printed report, detailing that nearly 90 of the island had literally vaporised, or been sunk beneath the sea; lost without trace. Daniel lowered his eyes and for a long moment rested his head in his arms, dejected and feeling sad that so much had gone wrong.

-----

1538 BC.

"Tell me, Heru-akhen" Ra said as he rose from his elaborate throne. "Is the deed done? Does my grand-son lay dead?"

Heru-akhen knelt before the God to whom he had sworn fealty. He honestly did not know the answer. However, in Heru-akhen's experience, Ra may be angered when his agent didn't know the answer. He would turn murderous if his agent lied to him.

"Oh, mighty Ra, I do not know." Heru-akhen shrank back a little, unnerved by the proximity of his God. "I planted all of the devices, both in the volcano and within the chamber; along with those planted at the hidden base. Alas, I have no way of knowing if he was present when I collapsed the tunnels."

Ra paused, the dead eyes of his mask gazing impassively on the man who had pledged to betray his old master. "Heru-akhen, you have done well."

The words caused the misbegotten traitor to feel lighter of heart.

"As I promised, you shall be rewarded." Stepping forward, Ra raised his hand to his new slave's head, the garnet of his jewelery gleaming as a short burst of pain lept forward to incapacitate Heru-akhen. "You shall become host to my new son." he whispered.

Turning, Ra's robes whispered on the ground as the Jaffa priestess that carried the lava approached. "It is your time, daughter. Relinquish the burden you have carried and let your life be complete."

The priestess stepped forward and knelt beside the unconscious Heru-akhen. Lifting aside the veils surrounding her belly, she let the lava within emerge into daylight. With the speed of thought, the snake-like body pierced the neck of Heru-akhen and vanished into the flesh of his new host.

"No more does Heru-akhen exist, my son..." Ra intoned as the new Goa'uld rose from the floor. "You are Heru-ur. And yours shall become the truth behind the myth of Horus. None other shall bear that name."

"Yes, Father. Please, teach me what I must know to do your will."

-----

"So, sir" reported Janet as SG-1 listened to the medical debrief, "the damage done by the smoke was only minor and there should be no lingering effects as a result."

"Very good, Doctor," the General said, nodding in satisfaction and a small amount of pleasure that his best and brightest wouldn't suffer as a result of this small escapade.

The General cast his gaze along the table, watching as Daniel covered his mouth to cough. Sitting next to him, Teal'c glanced at his team mate, while Sam pushed a glass of water closer.

Jack had closed his eyes, trying not to show how tired he felt. Ten hours of jet-lag was a real bitch and they'd only been back a few moments.

Beside Jack, still wide-eyed and nervous about the whole thing, sat Jeanie, looking between all of the military personnel.. but her eyes were drawn to the open window and the large 'gate just beyond. She couldn't help it, it was as if this gargantuan device held her in a hypnotic thrall.

Steam started to emerge from the clamps at the sides of the device and Jeanie watched as it seemed to move, a circle of glyphs running around the edge and literally twisting. The loud grind of metal on metal was overshadowed by an announcement that made all of the military people rise to their feet. "Incoming traveller!" came across the tannoy and Jeanie watched as a troop of guards swarmed into the hanger below them and raised their guns to aim at the 'gate. More metal slid over metal as a shield emerged from the sides of the circle. Jeanie watched as a light flared up behind the gate, eyes wide. It took the voice of Daniel to draw her from the trance. "Beautiful, isn't it"  
he murmered.

Jeanie looked up at him, then nodded wordlessly. "This.. is what you told me about, isn't it?"

Daniel nodded, watching as the iris opened again and the troops relaxed a little. "Yes, the StarGate. And our guests are about to arrive."

"Who is that?" she said, gesturing down to the three figures that had just emerged. "They look human.. for a moment I thought that they'd be little grey men."

"Those would be the Asgard, Dr Rey," Jack said with a smile for her perplexed look. "The little grey men?" he said, still grinning "They're called the Asgard. The men below are... mostly human. We call them the Tok'ra."

Jeanie frowned again "Those who are against Ra?" she translated, shaking her head. This was a confusing new world.

Jacob looked up at the conference room and waved to his daughter, a simple smile of joy forming from the fact that she looked well and mostly happy.

The lights glinted off the arrayed crystals on the desk. Most of them were chipped, cracked and some were shattered, from Daniel's fall.

"And these were on Earth?" Jacob asked again. "Where, exactly?"

Everyone listened as Daniel related the tale once more. "And there were more left, along with some sort of projection device. I just wish we'd had time to bring them back, too."

"Sir?" Sam queried, looking at her team mates and then her father. "I think I have an idea of where we were." There was a faint hesitation in her voice, but she ploughed on. "We know that there's been some activity in Antarctica, since that's where we found that StarGate. Now, we also know that a tranporter beam can pass through solid matter, like the floors of a ship, or the hull of a ship. By that token, can we assume that it could possibly pass through a section of a planet?" she looked to her dad for aid here, trying to think through her hypothesis.

"Maybe, Sam... I mean, we Tok'ra use the rings to transport from our tunnels to the surface of our planets. So yeah, I don't see why not, if there's enough power, of course."

Sam nodded, moving to the white board and drawing a circle. She marked a point on one side of it. "Here's Santorini." she said, "About 35 degrees latitude, by about 25 longitude. That's right, isn't it Daniel?" The archaeologist nodded. "So..." Sam said, drawing a line towards the south of the circle. "It'd have to pass through a rather large section of the planet. But there's a huge thermal source of energy near here, as well as any naquadah devices that were buried in the area where the ring transport was. I noticed that the eyes of the image were glowing, almost pulsing, as we left. I wonder if that's the power source?"

"It's a resonable assumption, Sam." Jacob mused quietly. "It could explain a lot of our own mythology, too."

Sam looked up, suddenly remembering the images they had seen. "Dad, Egeria was here, on Earth... whenever Horus was here."

Jacob blinked, then his eyes glowed as Selmak took over. "Egeria's presence here is something that we had no knowledge of. Do you know who held her captive?"

"No, noone, Selmak. That's what I was trying to say. Horus and she seemed to be lovers. Or something, anyway." Sam gestured to one of the crystals. "It's on one of those, a cracked one. We saw her taking a box from Horus, then heading away from the main control room."

"Could it have been before she birthed us?" Selmak queried of his companions, but all they could offer was a small shrug and puzzled looks. This memory did not exist within them, so surely there was more to this than met the eye.

Jacob stepped forward as Daniel handed him a green, cracked crystal. "This one, I think." the archaeologist said.

"George, could we take these crystals?" Jacob asked, looking at his old friend. "We have devices that can read these, back on the base."

"Sir, these were our finds. How can we be sure that the Tok'ra will share everything that they find out?" Jack's paranoia made Jacob start. Sometimes he forgot that the Tau'ri had been betrayed through this alliance.

"You could always come and watch as we learn from these. However, there will be many hours, for each crystal."

"So what? We just give these to you? Trust that you and your scientists will tell us everything?"

"Jack, we aren't exactly in a position to come to Earth to continue the investigations."

"Save it, Jacob. With respect, I want our people in on this."

Jacob sighed and shook his head. "I will have to talk to the council, Jack. You know how they react to the idea of sharing knowledge and technology."

"Yeah, well, not this time." Jack said defiantly. "We found this stuff, so you're obliged to share with us."

"Then let us hope that the council shares your sense of justice."

FIN 


	6. NOTES:

Notes on Time's Arrow.

This is a story that I started to write about 4 years ago.

Based upon the information that was available during Season 4 of Stargate SG-1, I wanted to explore the myth of Horus and the myth of the first Harsiesis.

Additionally, this story is set half-way through season 4.

The references to Horus' mythology are actually correct. Horus had many names and one of them was Harsiesis. Additionally, there were two myths about Horus, one where he was the son of Isis and Osiris.. and one where he was the son of Ra and Hathor.

Anyway, I hope that you like my first attempt at a fan fiction.

Tweetie Pie 


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